EDITORIAL: Higher bar may leave many behind -- Too few can meet current LAUSD standards

9:45 a.m. EST, May 10, 2012|Los Angeles Daily News

The Los Angeles Unified School District has the second-highest high school dropout rate in the state among urban districts. More than 50 percent of students don't make it to graduation.

Instead of focusing on that, the district has embarked on a plan to prepare all students for college -- whether they want to go or not. It might actually make things worse.

The college preparatory curriculum approved by the LAUSD Board of Education on Tuesday mandates that high school students pass college prep courses with a C grade or higher for the class of 2017. Right now students can pass with a D average. A C average is needed for admission to a University of California or Cal State school.

Apparently as a way to help improve graduation rates, the board also voted to reduce the number of credits needed for graduation from 230 to 210. The board was wise to compromise on an earlier proposal by Superintendent John Deasy to require just 180 units, all but eliminating elective courses. Those electives range from acting classes to vocational courses and even calculus.

The new requirement also allows for tutoring during school hours that would help students achieve a C in college prep courses. That makes sense and, judging by past achievement, extensive tutoring will be needed.

Overall, it's an ambitious goal. But it's not at all clear that this won't make things worse. For last year's graduation class, for example, only 15 percent of students earned

a C or higher in a college prep course, while 21 percent received a D or higher.

Those figures are worrisome, and throw into question whether the new graduation requirements will help more students succeed.

Deasy characterizes the college prep program as a civil rights issue for students. Since the program will apply to all students -- whether they go to college, to a vocational school or right into a job -- it will tackle what one board member lamented as high school graduates not being able to fill out a job application at a fast-food restaurant.

That's a long step from being college-ready, but the lament gets to the heart of a more immediate need facing LAUSD: bringing all students up to basic levels first before trying get them ready for college.